Nordstrom's success in downtown Portland contrasts with the trend to suburban malls in other cities.
During peak periods 16 trains per hour per direction pass through the one-way couplet on Morrison and Yamhill Streets.

Looking west on S.W. Jefferson Street from S.W. 18th Avenue, leaving downtown Portland, while the line was still under construction. The eastern portal for the tunnel below Washington Park is just past the high bridge (7/96; other photos 7/00).
Tracks pass a pond as it curves away from the freeway toward downtown Beaverton. The first major expansion of Portland MAX, the Westside line to Hillsboro opened in 1998.
The station at Orenco Station, one of the new housing developments planned around this line.
Mixed-use and cottage houses are located close to the station in the New Urbanist development of Orenco Station, "Named by the National Association of Home Builders as 'America’s Community of the Year' in 1999."
This is a good example of landscaped parkways (the strip between the sidewalk and street) in limited space on S.E. Washington Street in Hillsboro, after the tracks transition from private right-of-way to street median.
Note the trees on this station platform in Hillsboro on S.E. Washington Street.
The terminus in Hillsboro shows an older high-floor car (center) and newer low-floor cars.

Portland's Interstate Avenue was the main road north to the Columbia River and Washington before I-5 was built. In decline, it's been brought back with the 2004 opening of Interstate MAX, the Yellow Line.

This is a typical station at Overlook Blvd., looking south.
The original four-lane boulevard became median tracks and bicycle lanes (looking north from Overlook Blvd.)
These 7/03 late-construction photos were before parkway landscaping was complete.
This is a standard signal-controlled intersection by Ockley Green Middle School at Ainsworth Street, looking north. Chains discourage mid-block crossing.
The 4,000-foot Vanport Bridge crosses a southern slough of the Columbia River.
The current terminus is at Expo Center on the edge of the Columbia River. A new I-5 bridge over the Columbia River may take tracks north to Vancouver, Washington.
This zig-zag pedestrian crossing directs people to look first left, then right for safety with on-coming trains.
The 5.8-mile Interstate MAX line cost $350M, of which the federal New Starts share was $257.5M.
More in this Tri-Met PDF fact sheet.

Much of the Los Angeles Metro Green Line is in the median of the I-105 freeway, built at the same time. Here is a train at the Long Beach Boulevard station (12/07). Waiting here is VERY LOUD.
After the Aviation station (two miles from LAX, connected only by airport shuttle bus) the line curves south of the freeway (03/03).

Unique among modern U.S. light rail lines, it is entirely grade-separated because it was originally planned for automated operation.
Here is the aerial guideway and station along Nash Street at Mariposa Avenue in El Segundo (03/03).
Landscaping and path beneath the aerial structure (03/03).
Passing Mattel's headquarters and other office buildings at Grand Avenue in El Segundo (03/03).
Entrance to the aerial station at El Segundo Boulevard (03/03).
A new light rail bridge and older BNSF Railroad truss bridge diagonally cross the intersection of Aviation Boulevard and Rosecrans Avenue (04/03).
The current terminus is at Marine Avenue (04/03). It's a long way up to that platform!
Future extensions south, north to LAX, and east to Norwalk Metrolink are in Metro's Long Range Transportation Plan. More at Friends of the Green Line.
The 20-mile Green Line (map source) opened in 1995 for a cost of $718M. Recent ridership has been around 39,000 average weekday boardings.
Weekday peak headways are 7-8 minutes; middays and weekends are 15 minutes; nights are 20 minutes.

Friday, June 5, 2009

We'll begin with construction progress on the Los Angeles EastsideGold Line this year. This is the bridge from Union Station (distant left) over the 101 freeway and crossing Aliso Street east of Alameda Street, looking east (2/08).

Rails on the bridge, looking south from the end of the Union Station platforms (7/08).

After the Little Tokyo station on Alameda, the line turns east on 1st Street to cross the Los Angeles River (distant center-left), looking east (2/08).

At Mission Road just east of the 1st Street bridge, East L.A. New High School No.1 under construction on the left, western tunnel portal in the distance on the right, looking east (3/08).

Subway station on 1st Street at Soto Street, looking west (5/08).

Eastern tunnel portal on 1st Street west of Lorena Street, Evergreen Cemetery on the right, looking west (5/08).

Just east of the 60 freeway crossing, on 3rd Street at Downey Road, New Calvary Cemetery on the right, looking east (3/08).

The station on 3rd Street at Mednik Avenue, Griffith Middle School on the right, looking east (3/08).

Here is the terminus station on 3rd Street at Atlantic Boulevard, looking west (5/08).
A number of corridors from El Monte to Whittier are now being considered for potential future extension east.

This is the map from the Final EIS/EIR (in Executive Summary Graphics). The 6-mile line, with twin 1.8-mile tunnels (red on map) under narrow 1st Street in Boyle Heights, is scheduled to open in 2009.
Budgeted cost is $898M, including a federal New Starts share of $490.7M.